Otto Preminger

Discussion and info on people in film, ranging from directors to actors to cinematographers to writers.
Post Reply
Message
Author
User avatar
domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

Re: Twilight Time

#151 Post by domino harvey » Mon Nov 17, 2014 9:02 pm

Bunny Lake is Missing Blu looks great

Although the Lem Dobbs commentary sounds bonkers if this is accurate
Lem Dobbs, in some interesting sidebars to his commentary on Bunny Lake is Missing, goes even further, suggesting that Preminger's brusque, brutal attitude toward his actors actually resulted in, or at least contributed to, several deaths through the years, including Seberg herself, as well as Maggie McNamara and Dorothy Dandridge. That may be stretching things a bit, for while all three of these actresses did indeed commit suicide, they had all been beset with career difficulties that can't be entirely ascribed to Preminger.
:roll:

User avatar
Roger Ryan
Joined: Wed Apr 28, 2010 12:04 pm
Location: A Midland town spread and darkened into a city

Re: Twilight Time

#152 Post by Roger Ryan » Wed Nov 19, 2014 10:06 am

During a 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY Q & A I attended two weeks ago, Keir Dullea remarked that Preminger was insufferable during the shooting of BUNNY LAKE and made everyone miserable. Working for Kubrick immediately after was very relaxed and fun by comparison.

User avatar
domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

Re: Twilight Time

#153 Post by domino harvey » Wed Nov 19, 2014 12:25 pm

Oh, Preminger was by all accounts a terrible asshole, I just very much doubt he led to anyone's suicide (well, maybe Dandridge)

User avatar
Gregory
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 4:07 pm

Re: Twilight Time

#154 Post by Gregory » Wed Nov 19, 2014 1:45 pm

Are we expected to believe that Preminger made Seberg suffer so much during the production of her first two films that she got through the experience, went on to make 32 more films, and then, 20 years after Bonjour Tristesse, died of a drug overdose even partly because of Preminger? Quite a farfetched notion of delayed causation! If anyone deserves blame for what happened to Seberg's career and contributed to her intense personal troubles (I'll stop short of saying "led to her death") it's the FBI and the press.

User avatar
Minkin
Joined: Thu Aug 06, 2009 11:13 pm

Re: Twilight Time

#155 Post by Minkin » Wed Nov 19, 2014 7:05 pm

Perhaps Lem Dobbs is misremembering the pure evil side of Preminger.

User avatar
Drucker
Your Future our Drucker
Joined: Wed May 18, 2011 9:37 am

Re: Otto Preminger

#156 Post by Drucker » Wed Nov 26, 2014 10:57 am

From Keir Dullea's AMA:
Q: First may I just say I love your work and as Bunny Lake is Missing is one of my favorites. So my question is what is your favorite memory from the film?
Very few good memories due to the fact that Otto Preminger was a horror to work for. If you ever saw a film called Stalag 17 you will see Otto Preminger playing the Nazi commandant of the prisoner of war camp. Perfect typecasting. However, I have to say, that the high point for me, and perhaps the only high point, was working with Laurence Olivier.

jvdsq
Joined: Fri Dec 05, 2014 2:51 am

Re: Otto Preminger

#157 Post by jvdsq » Fri Dec 05, 2014 3:34 am

I love the film Laura. Waldo's lines are so memorable. Gene Tierney was beautiful and talented. She was the perfect actress for the part of Laura. The mood and atmosphere were just right. The mystery itself was quite unique. Lovely background music, too.

Where the Sidewalk Ends is an excellent and gritty film noir. I love how the film makes such effective use of shadows, side streets, and staircases.

Dana Andrews and Gene Tierney were great together in both films. Interesting that, in Laura, Gene Tierney had a much more important role than she did in Where the Sidewalk Ends.

I enjoyed Bunny Lake is Missing because I love the sorts of mysteries in which someone tries to find someone else who vanished, and no one believes that the vanished person really exists. Hitchcock's The Lady Vanishes is another film which follows such a theme. Same goes for So Long at the Fair and Dangerous Crossing.

User avatar
TMDaines
Joined: Wed Nov 11, 2009 1:01 pm
Location: Stretford, Manchester

Re: Otto Preminger

#158 Post by TMDaines » Wed Feb 08, 2017 7:53 am

Anyone know whether Whirlpool premiered in 1949 or 1950 for sure? Used to be listed as 1949 on IMDB, but is now listed as 1950. The date given for justifying 1949 commonly online is 28th November 1949, but I can find no actual evidence of a premiere at that time or contemporary reviews.

It opened in New York and Los Angeles on 13th January 1950 and there is a New York Times review for the following day.

Werewolf by Night

Re: Otto Preminger

#159 Post by Werewolf by Night » Wed Feb 08, 2017 5:48 pm

According to Variety's review that ran on November 23, 1949, there was an industry/trade screening in New York on November 18. Boxoffice, another trade paper, ran a capsule review on December 3 listing the film as releasing "Jan. '50."

A Los Angeles Times article dated January 10, 1950 states that the film was scheduled to open "Friday" (which would have been January 13) at the Los Angeles, Chinese, Uptown, Fox Wilshire, and Loyola theaters.

User avatar
TMDaines
Joined: Wed Nov 11, 2009 1:01 pm
Location: Stretford, Manchester

Re: Otto Preminger

#160 Post by TMDaines » Thu Feb 09, 2017 8:32 am

The Talk on Wikipedia is quite interesting: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Whir ... 1950_film).

User avatar
TMDaines
Joined: Wed Nov 11, 2009 1:01 pm
Location: Stretford, Manchester

Re: Otto Preminger

#161 Post by TMDaines » Thu Feb 09, 2017 9:01 am

Film Daily Year Book 1950 pretty clearly shows this has being shown in 1949: https://archive.org/stream/filmdailyyea ... 9/mode/2up

In other news, the Internet Archive is amazing nowadays. Already spent an hour browsing old trade publications.

User avatar
TMDaines
Joined: Wed Nov 11, 2009 1:01 pm
Location: Stretford, Manchester

Re: Otto Preminger

#162 Post by TMDaines » Thu Feb 09, 2017 12:16 pm

Also here is a review from Motion Picture Daily on 28th November 1949:

Image

User avatar
domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

Re: Otto Preminger

#163 Post by domino harvey » Thu Feb 09, 2017 12:55 pm

happily married
Are we sure they saw the movie?

User avatar
TMDaines
Joined: Wed Nov 11, 2009 1:01 pm
Location: Stretford, Manchester

Re: Otto Preminger

#164 Post by TMDaines » Thu Feb 09, 2017 8:53 pm

By reading it, I wasn't certain for sure.

This is your #1 of the 40s Domino, so your world surely turns upside down if this is going to count for the 50s next time!

User avatar
domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

Re: Otto Preminger

#165 Post by domino harvey » Fri Feb 10, 2017 1:27 am

Like I needed another existential crisis in my life!

User avatar
knives
Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 6:49 pm

Re: Otto Preminger

#166 Post by knives » Mon Jun 24, 2019 11:32 am

Still stewing on it, but I at first found Junie Moon utterly ridiculous until looking up and finding out the ADA only came into effect in 1990. That's kind of insane and makes the film in its own bizarre way seem so much more forward looking that I think I like it more now.

User avatar
therewillbeblus
Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:40 pm

Re: Otto Preminger

#167 Post by therewillbeblus » Tue Sep 08, 2020 11:50 am

I’ll wait until the Preminger list project to post something more in-depth in relation to auteurist stamp, but I thoroughly enjoyed Forever Amber against all expectations. It’s amusing to see how poorly modern critics dub the film, and how it's often unfavorably compared to Gone with the Wind, because Preminger takes the basic narrative structure, setting, color palette and other mise en scene optics of that tiresome epic, and squeezes out all the fat to eliminate the bore and accentuate passive details with optimal film language to infuse the milieu with thrills. This is, above all else, a very lean-feeling version of a bloated film. Rarely is there any meditation granted on a scene that causes slippage into disengagement, so even the less interesting conversations occur immersed in fluid camera movement, or in seamless editing transitions between multiple gorgeously-shot spaces. Per usual, Preminger’s rhythm is one of excitement, imbuing every scene, regardless of its inherent energy, with vibrancy to realise his auteurist power to make anything interesting. I couldn’t help but sit in shock while watching this, confused on why this material wasn’t oversaturating the style into repelling me away. Preminger was also apparently uninspired by the source material, and characteristically finds his own inspiration in the possibilities of the medium, and transforms the dull into the fun, like a rabbit out of his hat. It’s not a case where there’s gold to be found and it takes the right director to find it, but one where the meat is just okay, yet the right approach is to douse it in spices to make one too overwhelmed with flavors to tell the difference. The overstated bombastic score helps to balance the subtler expressions of technique to ignite involvement while making us keenly aware of what we’re watching with cheeky objectivity. I can't call this a great film, because it's still bogged down by the innate flaws of the theatrical script, some muted performances (mainly Wilde), and a lack of enthusiasm for the job itself, which was a contractual obligation, but Preminger does give it all he can and that's a lot better than I'd expect from anyone else, or than perhaps this film deserves.

User avatar
willoneill
Joined: Wed Mar 18, 2009 10:10 am
Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Re: Otto Preminger

#168 Post by willoneill » Thu Sep 17, 2020 12:23 pm

Does anyone know anything about the quality of Saint Joan in this set? I'm on a Joan of Arc kick lately and I really enjoyed Preminger's version when I saw it many years ago on TCM. But the WA dvd is out of print and this seems to be the best version I can track down.

User avatar
mizo
Joined: Mon Aug 06, 2012 10:22 pm
Location: Heard about Pittsburgh PA?

Re: Otto Preminger

#169 Post by mizo » Thu Sep 17, 2020 1:26 pm

I couldn't say right now, but I did just order a copy (intrigued because the product description suggests that Saint Joan might be presented in full frame, where the WA DVD was matted to widescreen) so if you can wait, I'll be able to let you know in a few weeks!

User avatar
willoneill
Joined: Wed Mar 18, 2009 10:10 am
Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Re: Otto Preminger

#170 Post by willoneill » Thu Sep 17, 2020 2:42 pm

mizo wrote:
Thu Sep 17, 2020 1:26 pm
I couldn't say right now, but I did just order a copy (intrigued because the product description suggests that Saint Joan might be presented in full frame, where the WA DVD was matted to widescreen) so if you can wait, I'll be able to let you know in a few weeks!
Thanks, looking forward to your thoughts. I also just ordered the Rivette version, so that should keep me occupied once it arrives (along with the 300 or so other discs in my unwatched pile)

User avatar
therewillbeblus
Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:40 pm

Re: Otto Preminger

#171 Post by therewillbeblus » Thu Sep 17, 2020 3:04 pm

mizo, did you ever get find out if you could publicly share your grad paper on the film without violating academic practices? It would be a great service to the community if so!

User avatar
mizo
Joined: Mon Aug 06, 2012 10:22 pm
Location: Heard about Pittsburgh PA?

Re: Otto Preminger

#172 Post by mizo » Thu Sep 17, 2020 6:27 pm

Well I'm a little wary of sharing publicly since I may or may not be incorporating parts of it into a larger thesis project. Too early to say, though. If not, I'll definitely post it here.

User avatar
therewillbeblus
Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:40 pm

Re: Otto Preminger

#173 Post by therewillbeblus » Thu Sep 17, 2020 6:45 pm

Fair enough! I'd be interested to read that as well, if you do get around to it

User avatar
mizo
Joined: Mon Aug 06, 2012 10:22 pm
Location: Heard about Pittsburgh PA?

Re: Otto Preminger

#174 Post by mizo » Sun Oct 18, 2020 3:58 pm

mizo wrote:
Thu Sep 17, 2020 1:26 pm
I couldn't say right now, but I did just order a copy (intrigued because the product description suggests that Saint Joan might be presented in full frame, where the WA DVD was matted to widescreen) so if you can wait, I'll be able to let you know in a few weeks!
Just over a month later and I can finally report back. I've given all the films a cursory once-over, and took a few screenshots on my laptop. I'm not sufficiently keyed into technical details to give a full bluray.com style write-up, but here's my best effort. The sound on each disc defaults to German dubs, but they all have the original English audio, and no forced subs. The packaging on the set is kind of awful - it has those plastic tabs on the sides of the disc, where you have to push the disc down almost too hard to get it back into place (like the Arrow Rivette set, if you own that) and the outer cardboard is flimsy and was already pretty dinged up when I got it.

Anyway, here's the main event - the Saint Joan transfer. First off, it looks to be in 1.66:1. Not the academy I'd hoped for, but also not the 1.85:1 of the WA DVD. Given that the other transfers on this set frequently allow you to see the edge of the frame (and you can detect some black creeping in, especially on the left side, in some of these shots) I don't think there's any masking going on on the sides. I don't have the WA disc on hand, but I remember the transfer being pretty weak, and this one handily surpasses it, with a nice deep, grainy look. Not sure that really comes through in these images, but the film looks good in motion - better than I've ever seen it before (and, as mentioned above, I had to look really closely at the old DVD in order to write a paper on the film):

Image

Image

Image

Image

Also, I'm fairly certain that the print used on the old DVD was missing this United Artists logo, so here it is for posterity:

Image

You didn't ask about the other transfers, but I'll also include samples. Advise & Consent basically looks like the old (pressed) WB DVD, maybe a little sharper. And you can totally see the rounded corners of the frame on the right. The Moon Is Blue looks considerably better than my recollection of the WA DVD, and you can only sometimes see the corners of the frame (so you could make a drinking game out of it!). It also has a British censorship card at the start.

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

The infamous "virgin" scene!

Image

Image

I don't have a great ear for film sound quality, but on cheap headphones, these all sounded fine. Disappointingly, the elusive German version of The Moon Is Blue is not included on the disc, just a German dub, like the others.

User avatar
willoneill
Joined: Wed Mar 18, 2009 10:10 am
Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Re: Otto Preminger

#175 Post by willoneill » Sun Oct 18, 2020 9:27 pm

Much appreciated Mizo. Just put my order in.

Post Reply